


Edee's Foundling

by mielipieli



Series: Soft Wars Fanfiction - Fanfiction of Fanfiction [8]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Edee pulling a Ponds, Gen, Soft Wars, Squad Edee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26125915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mielipieli/pseuds/mielipieli
Summary: It starts with wanting to get to know Neyo's friend. It ends with an adoption.
Series: Soft Wars Fanfiction - Fanfiction of Fanfiction [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765462
Comments: 29
Kudos: 164
Collections: Open Source Soft Wars





	Edee's Foundling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Project0506](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Project0506/gifts), [SailorSol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Ja'hailir](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26075890) by [SailorSol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol). 



> This is basically an AU of an AU of an AU as I have just realised... 
> 
> Thanks to Projie for making Soft Wars, thanks to Sol for making me feel things about Edee. 
> 
> And thanks to the soft wars discord (I think that part was mostly Sol, Cmon and Art) for screeching about this with me until I had to write this EVEN THOUGH I SHOULD BE STUDYING!!!

It starts with wanting to get to know him. Wanting to get to know the _vod_ who might as well be Neyo’s squadmate for how easily their personalities fit together. For how easy their communication is. Every meaning clear. Every word understood as it was meant, not as it was said. 

Bacara has what they lost when Priest took Neyo. 

It starts like this:

“I’m inviting Bacara, too”, Colt tells Gree and Fox on their weekly comm when they’re talking about spending an evening together (together as all of _Edee_ ) when Fox next visits.

“Okay?”, Fox asks. 

Fox hasn’t seen Neyo and Bacara together at all. Has only met Bacara a couple of times. The Marines were barely ever on Coruscant. 

“He’s Neyo’s _vod_ ”, Gree explains.

And Fox nods which settles that. 

That first evening is nice. Colt likes Bacara. He’s a good person. Steady. Dependable. He saw how Bacara treated the younger _vode_ during ARC training. And Colt has found that he enjoys Bacara’s company. He’ll listen with complete attention. Will - when he’s comfortable, which he isn’t on that first evening but will be on later ones - make witty remarks, play along with dramatic storytelling. He sometimes edges the line to teasing but never really crosses over it.

(It’s nice not to be the only one who prefers to listen for long stretches of time. It makes Colt feel more at ease not actively participating in a discussion, leaning back instead and watching the rest of _Edee_ converse enthusiastically. Gives him someone to exchange exasperated smiles with when stories get more and more ridiculous.)

That first evening is nice and a little bit awkward, but less so than Colt expected it to be. Bacara is clearly confused as to why he’s there: Colt can see his eyebrows knit together when he realizes that everyone else is _Edee_ . But he relaxes visibly when Neyo touches their arms together like _vode_ used to tap bracers. 

The last time Colt tapped bracers with Neyo was in third cycle. It’s almost hard not to feel jealous. It’s also not. Not really. Colt doesn’t mind that Neyo has that closeness with Bacara. He just minds that Neyo doesn’t also get to have that with _Edee_. 

(He will, Colt decides again. He will if he just lets them.)

And it’s obvious, really, how much more comfortable Neyo is when Bacara is also there. There’s the implicit trust between them of _vode_ whose friendship has been battle-tested again and again and again _and again._

When Bacara’s there, Colt almost recognizes the third cycle cadet Priest took from their squad. 

On Fox’s next visit to Concord Dawn, Bacara is invited again. He’s also invited to the one after that and the one after that and the one after that until an evening with _Edee_ is an evening with Bacara, too.

It ends with this:

“Huh”, Gree says on one of those evenings, staring at Bacara with his head slightly cocked, interrupting Fox’s tirade on badly organized construction companies.

Fox turns to him as if in slow motion: “What?”, he asks in that tone that used to send a shiver down the spine of any shiny in a ten mile radius but doesn’t work on any of them.

“Did we adopt Bacara?”, Gree asks. 

He’s not wrong, Colt thinks to himself. They probably did. 

“I think we did”, he agrees out loud. Then looks at Bacara: “Bacara, did you want to be adopted?” 

Bacara just stares at him uncomprehending. 

“I’m an adult?”, he says. _Asks_. Because he doesn’t understand what they’re getting at. Not quite.

“If squad _Shebs_ can have five members, so can _Edee_ ”, Fox says. A sentence carefully calibrated to make their intention clear without expressing any actual emotion. (Without overwhelming Bacara who still doesn’t quite seem used to being _wanted_.)

Bacara studies them all for a moment. Waiting. Evaluating. Then: “Yes”, he says.

Colt grins at him, feels a warmth bubble up inside of him: “Good. It never hurts to have more reasonable people on our squad.” He pauses, makes sure it’s clear from his posture, his expression, his _everything_ that he’s not done yet. “And it’s been hard work, trying to get _Edee_ to seem normal all on my own.”

There’s outraged shouting from Fox and Gree. Loud, pearling laughter from Neyo.

A soft smile from Bacara: “I’ll do my best”, he says when the others have quieted down a bit.

Colt finds himself giggling happily which he’ll blame on the alcohol if anyone asks. 

  
He raises his glass once he’s managed to get his laughter back under control: “Oya, _Edee_!”, Colt shouts.

  
And “Oya, _Edee_!”, his squad responds.


End file.
